Depression coming on strong, HELP!

Hi Guys

I'm about 15 months out and I'm getting really depress for the last two months. I can't seem to kick this feeling. I have no energy and I don't even go to the Gym anymore. I'm gaining weight and drinking alcohol more and more. I just can't kick this feeling. I'm off all the pills I use to take and do not want to start taking even one pill. So taking anti depression pills is out of the question. Any you guys been though this **** and how did you kick it?

1. get off the alcohol, it will consume you. 2. get on your vitamins, especially the B-12 & multi with iron 3. bananas and/or over the counter potassium and magnesium item three helped me rise above feelings of depression, being alone, and not caring. the vitamins, iron, and b-12 helped with energy increasing my protein intake from 60 gms a day to 200 gms a day also improved my energy and stamina. Most of us that go to drinking wind up not eating or taking our vitamins and that just pushes you into a dark bottomless hole you gotta dig yourself out of.  The sooner you start on the road back, the easier it is to kick. Let me know if I can be of further aid. Joe [email protected]  (w) 804-734-2074 9-5 EST weekdays (h) 804-526-1817

Try a Sobe Lean Energy instead of the alcohol of choice next opportunity. Maybe the substitute will help some.  And avoid being alone,..go where others are or you can be with someone you care about or respect.

Thanks Joe

You are right on: alcohol, it will consume you and I do forget a lot to take my vitamins. I'll try what you suggested

Thanks

I know it's hard to push yourself but the exercise as odd as it sounds will give you more energy and works great at getting read of the depression. If that doesn't work sex with a hot lady usually does the trick!

I agree, get off the alcohol. It will take a week or so for the depressant effects of booze to leave your system (I'm something of an authority on this). Religously take your OTC pills. We don't process food like the rest anymore and that can leave us wanting in vitamin and mineral dept. and that can mess up your head.  It might get a little worse before it gets better, but it will get better as long as you try to keep yourself healthy. And don't discount the exercise, there is something about exercise that releases chemicals that make you feel better mentally as well as physically. That might just be the jump start that you need. Good luck.

There are ways to combat depression that do not involve meds.  They work with mild depression.  If you have clinical depression--even if it's short term--you should at least see a therapist (usually a psychologist or MSW).  I posted yesterday that there's an excellent book that can help you with this.  It's "Feeling Good--The New Mood Therapy" and it came out about 20 years ago in paperback.  You can probably find it in a library if you don't want to buy it.  Near the beginning there's a test you can take which can show you just how depressed you are.  The book lists several strategies for combatting depression.  Take the test and try the book.  You'll soon know if you need "talk therapy" where you talk to a therapist and get feedback.  This is not like the movie pictures.  You describe your problems and allow the therapist to evaluate you and make recommendations.  I'd avoid cross talking--you are paying for the therapist's expertise.  I say this because I had the bad habit of trying to evaluate what the therapist was saying while he was talking instead of listening to him;  I was almost arguing with him.  I finally had a wise man tell me the folly of my ways.  Rather, follow his/her recommendations and ask about any additional reading or mental exercises you might be able to do. Finally, if this has been only going on for the past couple months and that's when you stopped your anti-depressants, you may have seasonal sunlight deprivation depression (or, that could be part of your problem).  If that is the case, then you can buy a special lamp for somewhere between $100-150.  You sit in front of it for extend periods of time but I don't know how long.  I know my brother uses one.  Since he has an office, he just has it on while he's at work and it elevates his mood.

I get depressed too! i look down at my stomach and i see how fat a am at 290 lbs down from 540.I see how many vitamins i have to take each day instead of taking 4 shots of insulin and 8 pills.i see how few clothes i have today compared to the 30 pairs of pants i cant wear any more so my wife donates them to the less fortunate.!i now have to wear pants with zippers and buttons instead of pulling on a pair of sweats.BUT I DO STILL GET DEPRESSED,BUT IN THE NEXT MOMENT I FEEL BLESSED!GO BACK AND READ WHAT YOU WROTE ON THE NOW SIDE OF YOUR POST THEN WALK OUTSIDE YOUR HOME AND REALLY REALLY LOOK AT THE OTHER PEOPLE AROUND YOU OR JUST READ THE POSTS ON HERE WHO ARE TRYING TO HAVE THIS LIFE SAVING SURGERY AND THEN I WANT YOU TO REPOST ON HERE JUST HOW BAD YOU HAVE IT! BE THANKFUL

I don't have a lot to add to the already good advice here except this... Now, I am not preaching here, I love to have a drin****asionally, but... Remember that alcohol actually depletes the B vitamins in you. That is what causes all the liver damage in people that drink too much. If you are drinking much, and then not taking your B vitamins, you are headed down a bad path. Not to mention all the empty calories you are drinking. Like the others said, get those vitamins in you and try to get back in the gym, I think it will help you. Good luck brother.

----- 
Even the toughest criminals become remarkably docile 
 once separated from society by six feet of soil. 

The other guys are giving you good, solid advice. Alcohol is a drepressant, so that's a downer right away. You might also be low on potassium. I was and didn't know it until a recent blood test. I had been feeling sluggish and just not as energetic. Since I've been on Rx potassium I'm fine. As for meds, talk to a doc you trust. We're lucky to live in a time when there's help for depression (if you need it) and it seems to me that we owe it to ourselves to accept help when needed. On a personal note, I think that everyone who has suffered long bouts of depression and every suicide from pre-med times would wish better for us if they could speak to us. They can't benefit from modern therapy and medication (when warranted) but we can. I once heard a guy call depression an overactive mind in an underactive body. I think that's probably a bit simplistic, but there's still a lot of wisdom there. Try to eat better and move more. We're puling for you and most of us have had our dark moments. We know how overwhelming they can feel. But you wouldn't have posted this if there wasn't some hope in there. Hang on to it and trust it. You've slipped, but who doesn't? Look back pre-op and compare that life to how far you've come. One day at a time, one meal at a time, one foot in front of the other. It's an old formula but a good one. Good luck.